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salami-making in northern tuscany

hi everyone - can anyone recommend somewhere in the northern half of the region where it might be possible to go and watch how salami is made (finnochiona in particular); doesn't need to be a "hands on" course where you actually join in and make the stuff - this would be great, but these courses do seem expensive - just somewhere you can see what goes on, maybe have a chat to the salumiere while he is about his work...

Salumi

Buongiorno,

Can't help you much with northern part of the region - but I can give you a few ideas in Chianti. Both of the links below have famous butcher shops which make this type of salumi. Actually Tuscany is where you would want to come and see how it is made, since the finocchiona is a Tuscan specialty - sometimes called the sbriciolona, because it is soft - and almost spreadable with a knife. Yummmm, it is definietly one of my favorite.

I once stayed at Fattoria Pagnana - https://www.agriturismointoscana.com...a-pagnana.html - and I was able see (exceptionally) a small team dissect and process a whole pig into all the various cuts as well as all those items which in Italian are called insaccati - mortadella, salame, finocchiona, sbriciolona (which actually is not finocchiona but slightly different) etc. What was amazing is that after all their work there was almost nothing left apart from a few bones.

If you hear of someone doing this it is a worthwhile experience but this level of processing is not (or rarely done by) the butchers and they would probably not want to have you around even if they did.

A better option may be to approach a processor and ask to visit their premises. Across the river from Fattoria Pagnana (and Rignano sull'Arno) there is the village of Leccio most famously the home of The Mall, one of the best discount outlets in the whole of Italy. But it is also the location of a significant processor called Grandi Salumifici Italiani of Gruppo Alimentare in Toscana. I would try contacting them.